Team9nine

Jersey Mikes if I could pick only one, but not many left around here. Subway is where I go most. Agree with the comments on Arby’s Market Fresh subs. Also, when I was a teenager, the ladies in the deli at my local K-mart made the best sandwiches. I’d walk or ride my bike over there durng lunch break while in school several times a week.

No, Feider’s is just an overambitious crappie jig (marabou). THIS (below), or maybe a bit subtler even…

Ditto - my last purchase was in July...

Got to love Google translate ?

This ^^ It’s a simple static calculation I can measure and make in just a minute or two with any rod off the shelf and have a value I can compare against every other rod I own, and pretty much know exactly how it will feel and fish (to me) regardless of weight or reel.

The answer is never ‘more tackle,’ but instead, more discipline.

Correct

Sixth Sense Divine Braided Swim Jig - no trailer. He did also mention using an Axle Swinging Swim Jig (6th Sense) with a swimbait trailer rigged weedless if fishing around heavy cover, but he hadn't shown/mentioned that one previously that I've seen, so I don't think he's using it much at the moment. Just another option if you can't get the regular BSJ.

THIS ^^ for sure, especially if you can find a slightly steeper bank with immediate access to 2-3 ft of water or more (vs. a flatter beach-type sloping bank). The other thing I'd add is to search out any tiny pocket of even marginally clearer water. Lots of little sneaky spots that can fit the bill here, but every little bit of clarity helps in true mud. I'd also go slow and vertical in cover. Tough to beat a jig or large plastic (oversize beaver); something you can put in a small place and keep it there.

I also found it interesting that he stated he still uses the Ande in his own fishing despite being slightly weaker in strength, but based on it having superior abrasion resistance vs the other lines, which is the most important factor to him given how he fishes. Lots of attributes with every line, and they’re all complex enough that we probably can’t ever design a single set of tests to ever determine “best” that would satisfy everyone because of all the variables involved…not to mention the totally subjective and non-standard labeling of line strength within the industry.

I agree that braid would change the equation, so to speak. You'd have to drop down to either a Med. in traditional fast, or a somewhat more moderate rod, IMO. OP never stated what line he was using, and being a nearly all fluoro user, I just assumed he was using either fluoro or mono/copoly.

Similarly, for those baits, my goto is a MBR783c which in their write-up they state, “A good choice for fishing light to medium jigs and worms.” It is rated as a MH, but doesn’t fish/feel that powerful to me. I don’t think I’d want to go any lighter.

It’s the only time I fish Hundreds of trips and thousands of bass these past many years, and not a single one before Noon…I don’t do mornings.

For that weight, I’d agree with M power, and probably F/XF action - something similar to what you’d throw a jerkbait or spinnerbait on. I’d shy away from anything moderate or cranking based. Too easy to overwork the lure in that instance.

Original question below, which I take as, How many times do you put a bait in front of a bass and it then strikes it? Or, reverse it and, how many times when your bait is near a bass does it ignore it? I'm still hanging around the 95 percent rejection mark...but it's all theoretical and a guess on our parts.

Stumbled across this video tonight which does a nice job of covering my two main points above: > Wetting a knot (or not) is not the death sentence everyone makes it out to be. Most days I don't do it. I started to go away from it several years ago after seeing other data that supported this conclusion (similar to the video below) > Some fluoros are just as strong or stronger than some monos for nearly identical diameters. Formulations have improved, so you really have to compare line vs. line specifically these days, and not just generalize that fluoros are weak and nylons are strong - especially since most testing is done dry (nylons weaken with moisture absorption; most fluoros don't).

While I would never rule out the possibility of a suspending jerkbait or blade bait bite, especially if the water is clear, we seem to do our best winter river smallie fishing here on fnf, hair jigs, and small subtle plastics on bottom like Ned, jig worms and grubs fished very slow. A couple days into a warming trend, usually about the time we no longer need to worry about dodging ice chunks floating downriver, seems best.

Haven’t heard him mention bladed jigs at all yet. Last night he said the only way he could get bit consistently, in this one example he gave when sitting on a giant school of bass, was to downsize to a crappie jig. He said the lightbulb went off, and he figured the bass simply wanted a very subtle, small profile presentation. Went to the plain swim jig, and hasn’t had to put it down for the past 6 months. Said he’s been expecting the A-rig to take over any day now, but hasn’t happened yet.

That’s been my most productive retrieve style overall when fishing smaller ponds - steady, slow retrieve over flats, parallel to weedlines, dropoffs and the shoreline - especially on dark, windy days or after heavy rains when the water is stained. Very similar to a lipless but slower.

From what I recall, and I still have several very old Model A’s from the late 80s, hook type depended on paint scheme. Several of the old shad/baitfish colored Model A’s came with the tin hooks, but I don’t ever recall seeing them on things like crawdad, firetiger or baby bass patterned baits. Those were always bronze. I’ll dig a little through my old stuff this afternoon…

Not quite. Does throw A-rigs (winter) and deep cranks (summer), but also really likes big flutter spoons and swim jigs, esp. swim jigs right now. This is for the giant bass. He says he has tried about everything, but those 4 seem to get the most use in rotation at present. Can use several other baits if you are just chasing "normal" smaller fish.

No offense, but I'm going with 'user error' on this one for now. I've used Palomar knots in fluoro for years and years without issue. Any more, I don't even wet my Palomars because when tied properly, there is near zero friction and the test strength difference is negligible. There are specific instances of certain lines or line tests not playing well with certain knots, but that applies to all lines in general. Given today's improved fluoro formulations, things like the mono vs fluro knot strength debate is a bit overblown, IMO; more a generality and less a given or absolute.

Yes...

So many variables - but just sitting at the computer pondering for a couple minutes on the question, <=5% seems reasonable as a yearly average. That means 1 out of every 20 bass I get my bait in front of might strike. Could be lower, doubt it's higher, over an entire season - some days and times will obviously be higher. I base some of this off using LS for an entire season now, especially crappie fishing. I can see just how many are down there, but so many times they simply shut off after catching a limited number, while the rest never bite no matter how long I sit on a spot and change baits. Live bait might change the answer some, but that wasn't inherent in the original question.

David Fritts always said 21” per turn was ideal for deep cranking, which works out to about 5:1 gear ratio. However, he liked faster for lipless, usually around a 6.4:1 ratio. So I’d guess the compromise would fall in-between those two. I’d probably shoot for the higher end to do both, something in the 5.8 to 6.2 range depending on model/brand. I keep separate outfits for both and use 4.8:1 or 5.1:1 for deep cranks, and either 6.2:1 or 7:1 for lipless depending on size and depth.